German Ex-Defence Minister says new EU post not "political comeback"

German Ex-Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg on Monday said his newly-accepted consultant post at the EU Commission was not a "political comeback." Guttenberg, who went into self-imposed exile earlier this year, will be responsible for advising the authorities in Brussels on the issues of democracy and human rights and promotion of Internet freedom. "I will use my extensive contacts I have gained during my political positions in the foreign and security policy and economic policy to find ways of cooperation and coordination," Guttenberg said. Responding to the remarks that his assumption of the post could be interpreted as as a part of his political comeback in Germany, Guttenberg said, "You do not see me in Germany, and this is not a political comeback." Once considered as the most popular politician in Germany and a possible successor to Chancellor Angela Merkel, Guttenberg was forced to resign from the post of defense minister in March when he was found to have copied parts of his 2006 university thesis without credit. He moved his family to the United States in the summer after prosecutors turned a criminal charge to a fine instead.